Fur or wool felt hats start out as a cone that is roughly shaped to a raw body by stretching. It is then further processed in a labor-intensive sequence of steps to the familiar hat shape. Two theories of the formation of felt itself, the intertwining and plastic theories, seem to be the basis also for the later steps of hat shaping. According to the intertwining theory, the fibers are mechanically manipulated and forced among each other. The plastic theory holds that the fur or wool fibers become temporarily plastic at elevated temperatures. The hand process involves blocking the crown and flanging the brim.
Skilled crafts people using simple fixtures or machines can perform these operations. Crown stretching is done on a fixture which has a frame over which the rough felt cone is placed. Metal fingers press the felt at the tip between frame members thereby stretching it. The brim stretcher also uses metal fingers to grip the brim to stretch it to shape. The hat is then roughly blocked into shape by wetting and then pulling it over a wooden block. The final blocking steps for final size are done with the aid of steam and an iron. The hat form is finally finished on a hand-carved block that produces the final style or "character" of the shape.
More sophisticated machines for automating some of the steps in hat making have been around for over a hundred years. Starting with a raw felt body, one process involves forming the brim flange by stretching this region using metal fingers before applying steam. The body with the formed brim is then dried on a rack. The dry hat is then put into a female mold and a rubber bladder is inserted in the crown portion and expanded by hydraulic pressure so that the crown is expanded into intimate contact with the female mold. Michelangnoli, a company in Signa, Italy, makes an automatic machine based on this hydraulic principle. Other machines, such as automatic stampers, are used to achieve a final shape to the hat form. Hat sizes are varied by changing the size of the crown portion worn upon the head. Hat sizes are generally characterized as either "small", "medium" or "large". The "small" men's hat size varies between 20 and 21.5 inches in circumference. The "medium" men's hat size varies between 22 inches and 23 inches in circumference and the "large" men's hat size varies between 23.5 and 24.5 inches in circumference. Equivalent size gradations are also applicable for women's hat sizes.
Within each size, the circumferences are varied by adding adjustable trim bands, such as sweat bands, to vary the size of the hat within a particular size.
For example, a "medium" men's hat size will vary between 22 and 23 inches circumference by adding adjustable trim bands therein.
However, to vary the hat size in conventional hat making machines is both time consuming and cumbersome.
My prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,820 solves some of these problems by providing a hat molding machine, which includes a male crown portion insertable within a fenestration hole within a female brim portion, wherein steam and heat is applied to a raw hat form therebetween. The hat thus formed is quickly molded to a sturdy hat. However, changing the hat size with my original hat holding machine required changing the male and female molds.
To solve the problem of providing hats of various sizes, my co-pending under Ser. No. 08/666,867 discloses the use of a plurality of different sized male hat molds, together with female insert members having open fenestration holes of different sizes to accommodate the male insert members therein. However, changing the sizes using my process describes in my co-pending application filed as Ser. No. 08/666,867 required shutting down the hat molding machine to change the male crown inserts and the female inserts, each with a fenestration hole therein. Therefore there is a need to further make hats of varying sizes without having to constantly turn the hat molding machine off.